KORNET E ANTI-ARMOUR MISSILE, RUSSIA (Iraqi ATM used against our Tanks - Successfully!)

Army Technology dot com ^ | FR post 3-31-3 | Editorial Staff

[vannrox]

KORNET E ANTI-ARMOUR MISSILE, RUSSIA

Kornet E is the name given to the export version of the Russian Kornet missile system. The system, first shown in 1994, has been developed by the KBP Instrument Design Making Bureau, Tula, Russia and is in production and service with the Russian Army and has been sold to the Syrian Army.
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Kornet is a third generation system, developed to replace the Fagot and Konkurs missile systems in the Russian Army. It is designed to destroy tanks, including those fitted with explosive reactive armour (ERA), fortifications, entrenched troops as well as small-scale targets. The system can be fitted to a variety of tracked and wheeled vehicles, including the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle, as well as serving as a standalone, portable system. The self-propelled Kornet missile system is manufactured by the Volsk Mechanical Plant, Volsk, Russian Federation.

MISSILE

The launcher fires Kornet missiles with tandem shaped charge HEAT warheads to defeat tanks fitted with ERA or with high explosive/incendiary (thermobaric effect) warheads, for use against bunkers, fortifications and fire emplacements. Armour penetration for the HEAT warhead is stated to be 1200 mm. Range is 5 km.

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The missile has semi-automatic command-to-line-of-sight (SACLOS) laser beamriding guidance, flying along the line of sight to engage the target head on in a direct attack profile.

LAUNCHER

The tripod launcher includes optical sight, thermal sight, laying drives, missile launch mechanism and missiles kept in storage and transport containers. The operator uses either optical or thermal sight to detect and track the target. The thermal sight is designated 1PN80 and is produced by the State Institute of Applied Optics (NPO GIPO) of Kazan, Russia.
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VEHICLE MOUNTS

The Kornet anti-tank guided weapon system is mounted on a cross-country, armoured chassis based on the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle which entered production in the late 1980's and is in service with the Russian Army. BMP-3 is a tracked, armoured, amphibious vehicle. It has a 500 hp diesel engine, weighs 18.7 tons and is capable of a maximum speed of 70 kmh and range of 600 km. The vehicle is equipped with night vision devices.
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The self-propelled Kornet missile system has the capability for automatic loading and the simultaneous launching of two missiles at a single target. Sixteen missiles can be carried. It has a crew of two.

KLIVER MISSILE/GUN TURRET

The KBP Instrument Design Making Bureau has recently developed the Kliver missile/gun turret based on the Kornet missile system, which can be mounted on a variety of vehicles including the Russian Army's BTR-80 armoured personnel carrier and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle. It can also be installed on small ships such as coastal patrol boats.

The Kliver turret carries four Kornet missiles and a 30 mm 2A72 gun. The gun has a range of 4000 metres and can fire at the rate of 350 - 400 rounds per minute. There is also a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun. Total weight of the turret is around 1500 kg, including ammunition and missiles. The automatic fire control system includes ballistic computer, thermal sight, laser rangefinder and stabilisation system. The turret has a 360 degree traverse and an elevation of -15 to +60 degrees.

[vannrox]

"...service with the Russian Army and has been sold to the Syrian Army.

[Maeve]

Damn Russia and bomb Syria to kingdom come.

[Blueflag]

Bear in mind the tanks 'destroyed' by these munitions did NOT have their armour penetrated. They were shot in the arse and they lost propulsion and their ammo cooked off. The crew compartment and the turret were intact as far as I know.

The tanks were lost more to an accident of tactics than any weapons superiority.

We'll retain our 4000:1 kill ratio, as long as we maintain manuvering discipline.

[SolutionsOnly]

THERMAL sights, too. Bummer.

We need snipers with infared scopes or something! Someone in the know please educate me on how we defend against these! C-130 Gunships w/infared? Cluster Bombs?

[Blueflag]

Tanks plus infantry is the answer, with a good dose of air support. A tank or two tanks by themselves have a reduced life span on the battlefield. You need mounted/dismounted infantry nearby.

We don't have all the details, but somehow, as I understand it, these tanks got themselves exposed, unprotected, and got shot from behind at close range.

These rockets are NOT magic Abrahms killers. Not to worry, but not to be comfortable with either.

[RicocheT]

The Kornet operator illuminates the target with a laser. Do our vehicles have sensors to sound an alarm when hit with the usual laser light beams?

The best defense is attacking anyone on the ground carrying a couple of big suitcases and having accurate return fire when any of these are fired. Scare the heck out of the operator so he doesn't hold on the target long enough.

[Hooodahell]

...Armour penetration for the HEAT warhead is stated to be 1200 mm. Range is 5 km. *****************
1200mm is almost 4 FEET!
Can this be accurate?

[SENTINEL]

The new explosively formed projectile technology is capable of penetrating 4 feet of armor with a 15 or so pound warhead. It basically smashes a piece of copper into an ultra dense long-rod penetrator that is moving at speeds approaching 20,000 feet per second. The formula for Kinetic energy is 1/2 Mass times Velocity squared. Compare this to a fifty cal bullet, around 1.75 ounces at 2800 fps which can punch through 1" of armor, and all of a sudden it is understandable. The key is in the speed, twice the velocity, eight times the kinetic energy.

[SolutionsOnly]

Thanks. I've heard that two M1's were either disabled or destoyed, but I didn't hear anything about tank crew causualties.

Knowing that the armor wasn't penetrated is reassuring. Sounds like our tactics will be able to deal with this.

[finnman69]

That's 1200mm of steel.

In March 1988 the Army announced that current production M1A1s were fitted with steel-encased DU mesh armor. Depleted uranium is an inert, heavy metal that is 2 1/2 times more dense than steel.

http://www.periscope1.com/demo/weapons/gcv/tanks/w0003593.html

Protection -- According to the Army report, 8 Abrams crews reported being hit by fire from the Iraqi T-72 , but there was no damage. Later reports claimed that 100-mm rounds fired by T-55 tanks simply glanced off. 125-mm rounds from the T-72 dented the M1A1's armor, but did not penetrate. Of the over 1,950 M1s and M1A1 tanks in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations (KTO), only four suffered catastrophic damage and four were damaged but repairable, the Army report stated. Later analysis revealed that of the four that caught fire, three were hit erroneously by US AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. No crewmen were injured because the bustle doors and blow- off panels worked as designed to vent the explosions upward.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Kornet is a third generation system, developed to replace the Fagot

I thought Muslims were intolerant and didn't allow this type of stuff.

[CGTRWK]

I thought the fagot was the MiG-15?

[fourdeuce82d]

It basically smashes a piece of copper into an ultra dense long-rod penetratorthat is moving at speeds approaching 20,000 feet per second.

Do you have any more on this? I thought standard shaped charge weapons produced a rod (NOT a jet) that had extreme penetration, and the EFP warheads used a flatter plate of copper to produce a much blunter "slug" appropriate for top attack, like the "skeet" munitions.

[knighthawk]

On CNN International I saw footage of 2 M-1's knocked out. They were attacked from the rear of a truck with a missile system. One M-1 was hit in the side, and there was a part of the tracks and some 'wheels' missing, but the armor was intact beyond that.

The crew of both tanks survived.

[knighthawk]

Bump

[duk]

Wait untill they figure out that a Bradly is an easier kill, and it sometimes is loaded with troops.

[Frohickey]

The key is in the speed, twice the velocity, eight times the kinetic energy.

Four times... four times. 2 ^ 2= 4.

[All Blue State]

Exactly,
We should return all weapons to the country of origin. You are either with us, or against us. There is no gray area.

[financeprof]

Kornet fires a HEAT (high explosive anti-tank) shaped charge warhead. The armor on an Abrams (DU, Chobam armor) is especially resistant to HEAT rounds--HEAT rounds are very ineffective against this type of armor. The 1200 mm figure refers to steel plate armor. This is not exceptional performance for a HEAT round.

The photo of the KOd Abrams that I saw had taken a hit on in its 6 (through the engine compartment), not through its turrent or frontal armor.

Any tank is vulnerable to a hit from the rear. That's why tanks need to operate in conjunction with infantry, especially in close quarters.

[HighRoadToChina]

BUMP!